Funding remains steady in many systems for now, but we will be, and should already be, fighting against perceived irrelevance that will increase as digital subscription services allow people to curate massive personal media and information collections with great ease.

Library Books

Book stores, large or small, aren’t analogous to libraries because you pay for every single purchase from a store. Subscription services are far more similar to a library because for a fee, just as you pay taxes to support the library, you can quickly access a media library, and there’s likely not waiting for the must-have title.

To which the Publib chorus responded ~

That said, pay-fer services, like that described here or Netflix or even big book stores, are no threat to libraries. They certainly haven’t caused reduced funding for libraries. ~ DARRELL COOK – Richardson (TX) Public Library

The fact remains that libraries must evolve. We must change the perception that, once people can easily check out books, audio books, and find information quickly and easily using their smart devices, that libraries will no longer be needed. What will or what are libraries morphing into? What will be our new/revised role in community when it is no longer “reading advisor”? How will City Councils and State Legislatures begin to view us as “essential” and not as a place to begin cutbacks? ~ Beth Carlberg -Lubbock Public Libraries

This very topic was the subject of the Infopeople webinar, “Libraries in a Post-Print World,” held yesterday, September 13. I recognized several PubLibbers’ names among the attendees. The webinar archive is here: http://infopeople.org/training/libraries-post-print-world ~ Nann Hilyard the library in Zion, Illinois

Amazon is a singular corporate entity. Libraries are at best an aggregate of like-minded interests loosely, yet passionately bound together by a system of professional ethics. Like politics, all Libraries are local. So, can we really say that Amazon is competing with any individual Library or are Libraries collectively poised to compete with Amazon?

I know that it takes a bit for new programs to work the glitches out but we have some pretty avid readers who have been waiting and watching for the Kindle app to appear. I want to make sure I can help them when they appear on our doorstep. ~ Jan Cole – Duncan Public Library

Would anyone be willing to share the percentage of your annual materials budget that you allocate for e-books, or just the amount you budget for
e-books? What is your population? – Diane Greenwald -Warwick Public Library (Ocean State Libraries)

His and Her Kindles

As a proud owner of His and Her Kindles, I reviewed the Ocean State Libraries
consortium offerings for Kindle. The number of titles currently available for the 600,000+ card holders is: 4,046. There is essentially no depth to the collection at this time nor any real value in searching it. In contrast – using the no-contract free 3G access built into the Kindles, I can browse and sample over 1 million titles.

– The deal with Twentieth Century Fox means additional video titles are now available for Amazon to stream to all sorts of device – providing an on-demand library of over 100,000 titles.

How many libraries can say they are able to provide the equivalent access?

-The new price point for Kindles – as low as $79 dollars with WiFi or $149 with free 3G means many, many more people will be able to afford Kindles.

Amazon Prime is $79 a year. So, for a total investment of about $150, you have WiFi, and thousand of books and videos available – represent a big price drop from just a few months ago. And, the new Kindle Fire may potentially become the dominant streaming media device.

Publib contributors are not without ethical concerns over these changes –

… that kind of seamless integration across your Amazon account has interesting (i.e. potentially alarming) implications about just how much Amazon is keeping track of its customers’ relationships with their public libraries. I’m not sure what I think about that yet. Does anyone have a read
on that yet? ~ Will Porter – Dennis Memorial Library

… but I did note yesterday that your library books are listed in your Kindle account information, just like books you purchase, and can be sent to any device you own from there. Several of our patrons have already commented on the service on our FB page – one or two even praised how easy it is, so that’s a nice change… 😉 ~ Robin Hastings – Missouri River Regional Library

So they’re definitely paying attention to what patrons are checking out and using that information for marketing. I wouldn’t be too surprised if they shared that information with others. Part of me wants to make a big point of letting patrons know that their Kindle checkouts aren’t anonymous, but I don’t really know that patrons care about that as much as I do. I know that while my librarian self finds it worrying my patron/customer self just doesn’t care. ~ Andrew Fuerste-Henry Dubuque, IA

But is Amazon competing with Libraries or are Libraries competing with Amazon?

Sometimes a Catalog is Just a Catalog :

Question: What is the fundamental difference between e-commerce catalog websites such as – HomeDepot, Sears, Amazon, Target, and Walmart and online library catalogs using Horizon, SirsiDynix, Evergreen or III?

One of my friends on Publib recently asked me if I thought there were employment opportunities for Librarians in e-commerce and what training would be needed to get a job.

I think that is a good question to address here with all of the PubLib people. I am a librarian and I have worked in e-commerce – web design, product development, training, data base management and SEO. My former employment (after being a public library director) was as a corporate e-commerce manager. I redesigned a 6,000 product e-commerce website, created blogs and alternate websites for its products and within a year had moved it’s US rank in Alexa from about 60,000 up to around 7,000. I took a year off to complete graduate studies in digital forensics (which I consider directly related to cybrarianship) and recently returned to e-commerce again to manage the databases and organic SEO for an international company with tens of thousands of products specializing in medical equipment and medical supplies.

Almost every college, University and technical school has some sort of a degree program now called something like New Media. The New Media curriculum teaches things like web design, and SEO, and htm*, and programming languages, and social media construction – basically all of this stuff that makes up the web. But, when all is said and done, what we create in e-commerce is a catalog – a catalog broken down into relevant, related categories with multiple access points and meaningful descriptions – so that the end-user can find what they want and we can get it to them efficiently. There is a back-end tie to inventory, prices, features, descriptions, shipping, and various temporal factors.

Traditional Librarian

How does that differ in concept from traditional library cataloging? The argument could be made that traditional libraries do not charge their patrons and the cost / price feature of e-commerce products creates a completely different dynamic. But, it really doesn’t. Every professional librarian knows that nothing is free and although there is no direct charge to the patron finding a book in a catalog – the expenses are paid for up-front through Taxes and Tariffs and Fees (oh my!), Taxes and Tariffs and Fees (oh my!), Taxes and Tariffs and Fees (OH MY!). Every library book has a tangible cost and there is a small markup that accounts for salaries paid to librarians. The back-end is tied to inventory, prices, features, descriptions, shipping and various temporal factors.

The marketing dynamics of library catalogs and e-commerce catalogs may differ since there is no apparent immediacy to having a library catalog pay for itself. E-commerce is result driven – the only reason to have a catalog is to facilitate sales and educate the consumer. But, I believe the every librarian now sees how truly dynamic e-commerce web sites that sell books such as Amazon – by the very fact that they do need to see immediate results – have drastically outpaced the big Library catalogs. So, although the marketing approach may differ, it really, really should not.

Soap Box

So, are there employment opportunities for librarians in e-commerce? Obviously, there is for at least one. The problem is Corporate America does not know what librarians can do for them. It has been left to me to explain to the company presidents I have worked with that Libraries are, in fact, sophisticated and dynamic inventory control systems – that work just like their supply chains.

Library Schools do not even know that they are training people to create catalogs for e-commerce. But, they should and given the employment growth outlook for traditional librarianship, Library Schools should be touting the ability of their cataloguers to catalog, organize and describe everything.

Unconcealed flatulence in Public Libraries

I have a patron who comes to use our computers fairly regularly to surf the internet. Another thing he does regularly is to pass gas loudly while using the computer and not thinking anything of it. Does the library have a right to insist that he stop this or does he have a right to perform this “natural” bodily function? He also does not hesitate to belch on occasion. … He lifts his “cheek” and lets it fly… Sometimes they just don’t pay me enough. ~ Sam

Sam did not specify if the repeated offense by the computer surfer was simply noise related or also smell related. He also did not state a policy on flatulence for staff and trustees. If library staff or trustees frequently expel gas, does it make a noise?

However, if the issue is merely olfactory inconvenience, Benjamin Franklin in his letter to The Royal Academy of Fartingc. 1781 provided some enlightened observations on the occurrence of gas along with a possible solution:

Benjamin Franklin

It is universally well known, That in digesting our common Food, there is created or produced in the Bowels of human Creatures, a great Quantity of Wind.

That the permitting this Air to escape and mix with the Atmosphere, is usually offensive to the Company, from the fetid Smell that accompanies it.

That all well-bred People therefore, to avoid giving such Offence, forcibly restrain the Efforts of Nature to discharge that Wind.

That so retain’d contrary to Nature, it not only gives frequently great present Pain, but occasions future Diseases, such as habitual Cholics, Ruptures, Tympanies, &c. often destructive of the Constitution, & sometimes of Life itself.

My Prize Question therefore should be, To discover some Drug wholesome & not disagreable, to be mix’d with our common Food, or Sauces, that shall render the natural Discharges of Wind from our Bodies, not only inoffensive, but agreable as Perfumes.

If Ben Franklin had successfully invented a drug that resulted in the patron expelling perfumes, would the expulsion of gas still be considered offending? If offense is based on quantity rather than quality of the gas emitted – what means of measurement would be appropriate for setting flatulence limits in a Public Library?

Publib readers offered their own suggestions :

Have you tried the three strikes rule? If you have three patrons in your library who complain about his gaseous behavior, perhaps you can then tell him to stop. Then, if he does not stop, it is your right to remove him from the property if he is being a nuisance to others. ~ Ford Simmons, MLIS

Perhaps a personalized seat cushion for this person, with an activated charcoal insert?? Just kidding, I guess…. ~ George Hazelton

I just wanted to bring up the possibility that he may have some sort of medical issue (for instance, irritable bowel syndrome) that puts his gassiness out of his control. You may want to consider what you will do if it turns out that he isn’t just being gross and rude, but actually can’t control the need to pass gas. ~ Heather Backman

why dont you just connect him up and use the gas to power the library? ~ Alan Wylie

Are the farts typically the low whistle variety, or more like the puttering of a motor bike? This is just me, of course, but I find that those of a lower register can have a soothing effect, if sustained. And, wouldn’t you know it, they often are sustained. P.S. I find the word “fart” to be off-putting. I prefer “boop.” ~ Joseph J. Cadieux

Le Petomane performing

Sam, it sounds like you have more to work with here than just his “tooting.” He’s clearly making himself a nuisance, not merely (possibly) having a health issue. He’s driving patrons away from the library with his behavior, which does not make him a benign member of the community. I say start with a short ban with threats of further, longer ones if he doesn’t correct himself. ~ Brett Rohlwing

We always take the stance that if other patrons complain, the offending patron is creating an unpleasant environment for them and can be asked to stop it. If nobody else complains, you do have a quandary. ~ Tom Cooper Editors note: There is historic precedent to pay people such as Le Pétomane to fart. In absence of complaints – might there even be approval of flatulence as the work of a fartiste ?

Probably qualifies as “offensive behavior” if other patrons complain. Body odor is “natural,” but we speak up about that in response to complaints. ~ Darrell Cook

I would even venture to say that you don’t need to wait for a patron complaint. If it’s bothering your staff, that’s good enough. ~ Manya Shorr

His right to pass gas ends at the end of your nose. If it was a one or two time event, he can be forgiven, but he is intentionally being offensive. Someone with that problem, knows when decorum dictates that he venture into the restroom to relieve himself of the gas. He is making it difficult for others to use the Library, and thus needs to be asked to leave, and not come back for two days. If he comes back and repeats his behavior, lengthen the time away. He’ll either get the message, or he won’t have use of his library. Either way, your other patrons (and your staff) win. ~ Jeff Imparato

Just, of course, proceed with tact. This can be an unfortunate side effect of some surgery ..became a regular thing for my Dad after his gall bladder was removed. Mortified him, so we all sort of pretended it wasn’t happening.It’s a dicey conversation at best, the more so if your patron can’t help himself… good luck!! ~ Sara Weissman

A popular culture interpretation of issues surrounding public expulsion of gas is expressed in Fox Television’s animated series The Family Guy:

To thank Karen Schneider for her years as co-moderator of PubLib, we are going to give her a bookshelf quilt. If all 10,000 PubLibbers contribute, so much the better—she’ll have a library-filled quilt!

By July 31, 2011, PubLibbers are asked to create signature blocks.

Here is how:

♦ Cut a piece of woven cotton fabric 2.5” x 5”.

♦ Any color.

♦ Must be woven. If there are no sewists in your household or among your colleagues, consider using a a piece from a shirt or a sheet.

♦ No knits. No textures (no terrycloth or corduroy).

♦ On that piece of fabric write your name and library or town – however you want to be identified. (If you use a pseudonym, that’s fine.)

♦ If possible use a Pigma brand pen. (Scrapbookers, quilters, and artists in other media use them.)

♦ Alternatives: a gel pen, a fine-tip Sharpie, India ink are all okay.

♦ Any color of ink is okay.

♦ *DO NOT USE* a Flair, a fountain pen, or a ballpoint pen.

Signature block with margins

♦ Keep a 1/4 to 1/2- inch margin all around the block. Do not write in the margin (that’s the seam allowance).

Library Security and Insecurity – A Brief Risk Assessment

Anne Frontino of the Haddonfield Public Library in New Jersey queried the PubLib Listserve about privacy and possible misuse of library barcodes on smartphones remarking:

Our library is considering allowing patrons to use barcodes scanned onto their smart phones to check out books. … We have only had a few instances of patrons trying this method of checking out items, but we feel that there may be some privacy or other misuse issues lurking.

It was obvious that there is no universally accepted standard for securing library user information, yet privacy is a cornerstone of libraries, library ethics, and the library profession. In fact, a privacy guarantee may be the one thing in the information age that sets libraries apart from other massive information resources. It may be the singular added value that provides validation of libraries as a public service.

Library records and library use are afforded privacy protection by statute and / or published opinions in the fifty States and the District of Columbia. Many states have enacted Security Breach notification laws and Data Disposal laws that safeguard privacy. Library user privacy is also championed by the American Library Association Code of Ethics specifically through Article III:

We protect each library user’s right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.

These statutes, ethics and opinions can create formidable barriers to unlawful, unwarranted electronic discovery. However, dramatic changes to the traditional library information environment have led to a general failure of libraries to provide security of library records and transactions and fulfill professional and statutory guarantees of privacy. As a result of those dramatic changes, library usage represents a massive opportunity for legitimate and illegitimate electronic discovery.

In 2009 the HITECH Act was passed to specifically address privacy of health records in the United States in conjunction with HIPAA. The process promulgated for securing privacy of health records could be effectively applied to safeguard library records – the technology is the same and the security issues are similar. Libraries and health care providers are both required to safeguard the privacy of user records. Health care records and library user records are both defined as protected information resources. But, unlike libraries as a result of HIPAA and HITECH the custodians of health care records must now undergo a risk assessment to identify how breaches of privacy may occur.

Enigma Encryption Device

If risk assessments are not being conducted by libraries, how well are Libraries securing user information? Thousands and thousands of library records have been compromised and hacked. Nothing mandates risk assessment of library privacy and information security. Yet, the laws and opinions in all 50 states and DC define library user information as private and protected.

What is the ongoing risk of exposing library user information? Huge. Three Library systems are reviewed here for the most basic levels of information security for users – Encryption, Authorization and Authentication and Agency of ownership applied to Library Catalogs and Websites.

Sacramento Public Library – Sacramento, California

The Sacramento Public Library serves over 600,000 users with 28 libraries. According to Manya Shorr, the SACPL also allows use of un-authenticated barcode images on smartphones as an alternative to a library card.

Website – The SACPL Employs Google custom search – an outside agency not under control of SACPL which tracks and stores user information

Sacramento Public Library Risk Assessment – Fail

Non-login catalog searches appear to be transmitted in the clear. Login catalog use and non-login catalog use is tracked by Google – a third-party not controlled by the SACPL. Searches of the SACPL website employing Google custom search is third-party data collection not controlled by SACPL. In addition, risk of in-person identity theft is compounded by reliance on staff to authenticate based on suspicion. How is reasonable suspicion quantified and qualified with 28 libraries and 600K users?

Ocean State Libraries – (library consortium) – Rhode Island

The Ocean State Libraries (OSL) consortium (formerly CLAN) includes 49 public libraries of Rhode Island and over 500,000 user records. In 2003 a long-term employee of the Warwick Public Library – the home of the Ocean State Libraries offices – was charged with stealing library user identity to obtain credit cards. Each employee with access to the circulation modules of the consortium is able to access library records and personal information for other users of the integrated library system. So, at the time when charges were filed all of the patron records for all of the libraries were potentially breached. Subsequent meetings of the OSL voting membership – library directors – discussed some of the security concerns of retaining drivers license numbers and social security numbers within the database. Some consideration of standardizing security of data was profferred. Arguments were made that the easiest thing to do was not to require PINs or other authentication and leave data collection and retention as a decision at the local level.

Encryption – The OSL catalog uses https SSL to encrypt login to user accounts. The OSL does not employ encryption for non-login catalog searches – all searches appear to be transmitted in the clear.

Authorization and Authentication – The OSL catalog does not require authentication of user accounts through a PIN – merely knowledge of a simple numeric 14 digit bar code.

Agency – It is unclear how information is shared with external agents – however, patron data is shared throughout the consortium and is not compartmentalized.

Website – OSL website user information is shared with and tracked utilizing Statcounter.com – a service out of Ireland.

Agency – User information is shared with and tracked utilizing Statcounter.com – a third party service apparently managed out of Ireland. Statcounter script is rendered as invisible, secreted tracking without informing visitors of its use within the website code – script from OSL website :

Ocean State Libraries Risk Assessment – Fail

No authentication of library catalog users – creating high risk of exposing user data. Non-login catalog searches appear to be transmitted in the clear without encryption. Use of website employing Statcounter.com aggregation of user data is third-party data collection by an agency not controlled by OSL – with servers storing data about user sessions apparently located in Ireland. Although security of patron records has been breached in the past, compartmentalization of records does not appear to have taken place.

The Library Connection – (library constorium) – Connecticut

Janus

The Library Connection serves 27 public and academic libraries in the State of Connecticut. The Library Connection librarians achieved some notoriety within the world of librarianship from their challenge to a National Security Letter and willingness to go to the mat along with the ACLU to defend the privacy of their users against law enforcement in John Doe v Gonzales. How does this library system employing librarians willing to secure and protect patron information from law enforcement review face user information security in general?

Encryption – The login connection to the Library Connection catalog does not employ https SSL.

Authorization and Authentication – A name and PIN or a barcode number and PIN are required for access to library user record. However, since that information is apparently transmitted in the clear instead of encrypted using https SSL – identity theft and harvesting of PINs with names and PINs with barcode numbers could be easily accomplished.

Information on non-Registered Library Users: No information is collected on library users who do not register as patrons. Some member libraries may collect the names of those who wish to use library computers to access the Internet. We encourage these libraries not to retain this information longer than three days.

Website – Immediately upon entering the Library Consortium website, user data is shared with and tracked by Google analytics

The Library Connection Risk Assessment – Fail

No apparent encryption of library users logins. Non-login catalog searches appear to be transmitted in the clear. Use of website employing Google analytics is third-party data collection – an agency not controlled by the Library Connection – which appears contrary to the Library Connection policy on non-registered users.

Risk Assessment Summary –

The ongoing risk to library user privacy is huge. This brief survey only touches on a few of the many current insecurities of library user information. Insecure user privacy practices represented in this brief risk assessment affect the privacy of over one million library users – just at these three library systems. The privacy standards outlined by Article III of the ALA Code of Ethics may be comprised for convenience even by large library systems. The ongoing erosion of user privacy in libraries to faciliate ‘ease of use’ by librarian and patron without regard to standard information security practices and ethics threatens the foundation of libraries as viable professional public services.

World Book Day, Copyright, and Google Book Search

On March 22nd the Southern District Court of New York rejected the Google Books Settlement. One of the central issues of the Google Books Settlement was the burden on Copyright holders to opt out of having their works digitized by Google. Instead, the burden is put on Google to obtain rights by having Copyright holders opt in. What does this mean for the extraordinary database Google has constructed of digitized works? What contents are already available in Google Books?

On March 16th the World Book Day game was reposted from Facebook to the PubLib Listserve:

“It’s that time again – World Book Day. Grab the book closest to you right now. Open to page 56 and choose the 5th sentence. Publish it as your status and write these rules as a comment. Don’t choose – PICK UP the CLOSEST BOOK. Don’t say what the book is about.”

The World Book Day game on Facebook is apparently a derivation of World Book Day as explained here by Judy Turner :

Briefly, the day’s official name is World Book and Copyright Day (also known as International Day of the Book or World Book Days. It is celebrated yearly,except in the UK and the Republic of Ireland where the first Thursday in March was chosen as the date. The commemoration was organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright and was first observed in 1995.

Many PubLib subscribers posted the fifth sentence on the 56th page of the book closest to them on PubLib. Running the sentences through Google Book Search yielded many of the titles. Google sells many of these titles through the eBookstore, so it stands to reason that many of the copyright holders would have given permission to digitize. Do the searches that do not appear represent opting out? It also stands to reason if the 56th page of a book is available through Google Book search, the rest of the book would also be available. Does this mechanism of being able to search a book in its entirety still represent fair use? And, what are the books that were closest to the PubLib readers who participated in the game?

The 56th page fifth sentences follow. The sentences do not necessarily correspond to the 56th page of the edition scanned, but each sentence was available in its entirety:

This is only a test

By similar reasoning, it was held in U.S. v. Jacobsen (1984) that field testing of a white powder uncovered by a private search was no search, as it would only reveal whether the powder was an illegal substance.” ~ Robert Balliot – Criminal Procedure Constitutional Limitations – Jerold H. Israel and Wayne R. LaFave -2006 – ( Editor: this was not in Google Book Search – is this an example of opting out by Thomson West?)

“Locally crafted of walnut, mahogany, and sometimes cypress, these knobs are identical to examples made in the eastern United States and continued to appear on both bench-made and factory-made furniture through the nineteenth century.”~ Audrey Jo DeVillier – na

“Paul knew that if he meant to make it in show business he had to go ‘down south’, even though southerners had a reputation for being unfriendly and condescending to northerners such as himself.” ~ Mark P. Hasskarl – Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney – Page 56 – Howard Sounes – 2010 – 634 pages

“Mainly a place for jewelers to pick up stock, ordinary mortals, too, can rummage the sparklers and invest in either loose gems or unique pieces of fine jewelry.”~ Gair Helfrich – na

“Like her he scanned the shadows, the deep pits of dark.” ~ Patrice Matujec – na

“And later, after her gentle care, she could see the trusting look in his eyes”. ~ Deb Yoder – A Moment in Time – Judith Gould – 2001 – 323 pages

“What these men had to eat and drink Is what we say and what we think.” ~ Myers, Leigh – Selected poems John Crowe Ransom – 1969 – 159 pages – More editions

“I can do without the snake’s help this time.” ~ Charli Osborne – na

“Like its rival Laphroaig, this [Lagavulin] is a very distinctive malt.” ~ Diane Swint Levin

“Is she awake yet?” ~ Darla Wegener – na

“”We won’t be doing that, Sheriff Barnett.'” ~ Glenda Pate – na

“It’s my mother.” ~ Betsy Cherednik – na

After agreeing to the new, harsher terms, Johnston surrendered his once-great army on April 26, 1865. ~ Melissa Davidson – Insiders’ Guide to Civil War Sites in the Southern States- John McKay – 2005 – 384 pages

When the poet Claude McKay reviewed Shuffle Along for The Liberator magazine, he made a point of praising its all-black production because some black radicals ‘were always hard on Negro comedy…hating to see themselves as a clowning race.’ ~ Kathleen Stipek – Anything Goes: A Biography of the Roaring Twenties- Lucy Moore – 2010 – 352 pages

Since then, staff have followed up and worked with them to identify things they will do. ~ Carolyn Rawles-Heiser – na

“”Eileen, achora, I hear someone come tapping.” ~ Cindy Rosser – na

Install A-B-C fire extinguishers in the home and teach family members how to use them. ~ Dianne Harmon – It’s a disaster! … and what are you gonna do about it?: a … – Page 56 Bill Liebsch, Janet Liebsch – 2006 – 268 pages

Finally Ethel walked out on him and went to perform at a Black club called Egg Harbor, then landed at Rafe’s Paradise where the patrons were white. ~ Judy Turner – na

It was characteristic of not only the Platonic but the Xenophonic Socrates. ~ Bill Manson – na

The very worst poetry of all perished with it creator Paula Nancy millstone Jennings of Greenbridge, Essex, England in the destruction of the planet Earth. ~ Diane Doty – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Page 58 Douglas Adams – 1997 – 208 pages

Those to whom the power of election is transferred must observe the provisions of law concerning an election and, for the validity of the election, they must observe the conditions attached to the compromise, unless these conditions are contrary to the law. Conditions which are contrary to the law are to be regarded as non-existent. ~ Paula Laurita – The code of canon law: new revised English translation Catholic Church, Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Canon Law Society of Australia and New Zealand – 1997 – 508 pages

“The boy wondered and grieved that she could not eat; and when, putting his arms around her neck, he tried to wedge some his cake into her mouth, it seemed to her that the rising in her throat would choke her.” ~ Brad Leifer – Uncle Tom’s cabin, or, Life among the lowly – Harriet Beecher Stowe – 1852

“The rep was described as what we termed “UK-6 Aristocracy Dapper-12,” which meant that he had a fine pencil mustache and spoke as though he were from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.” ~ Catherine McCullough Les – One of Our Thursdays Is Missing – Jasper Fforde – 2011 – 384 pages

“All the same, she saw him go with regret.” Betty Neels, The Awakened Heart. ! ~ Carrie Braaten (Editor: not in Google Books but the line partially repeats – A Good Wife – Page 32 Betty Neels – 2009 – 192 pages – Shall I go up?’ Serena gave him a tired ‘Hello.’She was both tired and very worried, her hair hanging down herback … be along presently,’ he told her, ‘ and I’m sure your brothers will see to everything.’ She saw him go with regret. ..) – na.

“The amount of material on reserve for a course should be reasonable in relation to the total amount of reading assigned for the course;” ~ Kim Rutter – The librarian’s copyright companion – Page 56 James S. Heller – 2004 – 257 pages

“She is not for sale,” the father answered. ~ Marla – na

However, Sebastiano gained his greatest fame after moving to Rome in 1511. ~ Jessica Rogoz – The World Book Encyclopedia: Volume 1 World Book, Inc – 2007 – 22 pages

Most teams don’t have such a complete back; they’re more likely to have one of each, so defenses can take their next cues from the formation. ~ Sandra Ferguson – na

“Provides training and educational assistance to build a productive workforce.” ~ James B. Casey – Illinois handbook of government Illinois. Office of Secretary of State – 2001

I will continue to nurse, ride on her ody, and sleep in her nest for more than six years. ~ Judi Bugniazet – na

What he needed was to dull his senses as much as he could, staying just sober enough not to be completely tongue-tied. ~ Connie Jo Ozinga – na

From the beer bottles strewn about like passed out drunks, and the cheese doodle dust coating his chest and face, it was pretty clear what he’d been up to. ~ David Faulkner – Red-Headed Stepchild – Jaye Wells – 2009 – 342 pages

“At one end of the bar the television set was on, but the sound had been muted.” ~ Celia Bandelier – P is for peril – Sue Grafton – 2001 – 352 pages

“A robot is already a spare part.” ~ Brock Peoples – na

“He furnished himself with shirts and all the other things he could, following the advice the innkeeper had given him; and when this had been accomplished and completed, without Panza taking leave of his children and wife, or Don Quixote of his housekeeper and niece, they rode out of the village one night, and no one saw them, and they traveled so far that by dawn they were certain they would not be found even if anyone came looking for them.” ~ Lisa Guidarini – The First Part of the Delightful History of the Most Ingenious … – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra – 1909

“Other patrons push their chairs back; the front door opens and shuts, then opens but doesn’t shut as Hattie steels herself to explain about radon, and about how the cancer had already spread by the time they found it – to his liver and brain before anyone knew a thing. “ ~ Laura Carroll – World and Town – Page 56 – Gish Jen – 2010 – 386 pages

Badawi scratched his chin thoughtfully. ~ Ann Perrigo – na

“Frey and others such as Versaci are part of a growing number of educators encouraging read3ers to see comics as a legitimate literary form.” ~ Joann D. Verostko – na

“An old and inconvenient term still used to designate a color mixed with black.” ~ Teresa – na

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What the Google Generation Doesn’t Know or

Get off of my Lawn!

How has Google affected research skills? Are library patrons getting the facts? Are the facts they are getting ‘real’? Do they know how to find information or what questions to ask? How is the technological immediacy of information balanced against quality? Do rolling stones still gather no moss? Many opinions were offered on these subjects and more when Kevin O’Kelly of the Somerville Public LibraryaskedPublib members:

“is ignorance of the skills of the pre-Internet age limiting their (high school students) ability to function in the Internet age? ”

To which the Publib Chorus responds:

Thy cnt spl. Vowels are a thing of the past. Seriously, they can’t spell. They can’t find things, sometimes even on Google because even Google can’t make heads or tails of what they are trying to say.~ Dusty Gres – Ohoopee Regional Library System (editor: SMS language avoids vowels)

Ay?

I was assisting a middle-schooler with her homework when I noticed she had written that the two official languages of Canada were English and Sumerian. I pointed out her mistake, but even if she had turned the homework in and gotten it wrong she would probably still have discovered that Yahoo Answers isn’t the best resource. And I don’t know about others in my generation, but I rarely find myself’ following the shiny blue hyper-links all over the place in some sort of internet-induced ADD rapture (unless it’s Wikipedia, in which case all bets are off – that site is an easy time-suck).~ Theresa McNutt – Red Oak Library

The truly disturbing thing is that back in the day, patrons who couldn’t use the book resources got no information and came to us for help. Now they will actually get something with their poorly constructed search strategies and they’ll be happy about it. It’s hard to educate someone who thinks they know what they’re doing.~ emilie smart – East Baton Rouge Parish Library

. . .Often they finally do come to me, and the only thing left to do is to employ the backhoe method to help them. I ask ‘what piece of information do you need to have when you leave that you don’t have now?’ … They are entirely too trusting. They will believe anything if a search engine produces it. They need to have that talk about not all is gold that glisters and not every search engine is righteous in its presentations. They don’t know the difference between a site that is there to sell something and one that is there to provide information. … They are willing to show others–including librarians–how to manipulate the technology in exchange for being shown how to manipulate information. Together, we have possibilities.~ Kathleen Stipek – Alachua County Library District

As a member of “generation Google” I respectfully disagree. It’s a vast generalization to say that an entire generation (or all young people, etc.) don’t know how to search online, use an index in a book, or any number of other assumptions. Some younger people don’t know how to do these things; that’s for certain. But neither do some adults. It’s unfair to say that, just because I grew up using computers and the Internet, I don’t know how to use a library in the traditional sense; or that I don’t know how to correctly and successfully search for
information online.~ Amanda Dias – Rodman Public Library

I find that just as many middle aged and older adults have basic book finding and research questions as younger ones.~ Jesse Ephraim – Roanoke Public Library

I have found that fewer young people have an understanding and appreciation of the Dewey Decimal system. As we migrate to eBooks and other things digital, I also think about children reading about this strange system (Dewey) that was used to arrange an old technology (books) a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…. Which leaves me to wonder if Dewey will ever have a place in a completely digital world? … are the same basic skill(s) needed to find, use and evaluate information changing?

How would our ancient predecessors have handled a change in information technology? It would be interesting to consider how the Roman era librarians of Alexandria would have handled the change from housing half a million papyrus scrolls to a lesser number of paper books. What changes in society and technology would have effected them? (And we all know how the changes in society, politics and history of their times influenced the end result of the Great Library of Alexandria.)~ Dana L. Brumbelow – Alachua County Library District

… many people of ALL ages now just turn to Google and don’t go any further when looking for information. For me it’s really a question of reminding people that unlike the web, a book doesn’t just suddenly disappear, the way a website will if the internet connection is severed.~ Teresa Eckford

Pretty much anything off the Internet, regardless of source, if it sounds remotely plausible, will satisfy many questioners. Certainly no one wants to wait the few minutes for a librarian to find the correct information in an actual reference book – just take whatever Wikipedia offers. And it seems that many teachers, having grown up with the same attitudes, don’t have the sense to demand authoritative sources. Or, perhaps, even to be aware that they exist.

One of my favorite books, “The Franchise Affair” by Josephine Tey rightly skewers the tabloid press of the 40s. The crazy tabloids my grandmother subscribed to have move comfortably to the web. Batboy lives! And I’m having a Martian love child next month!

. . . Often research skills are taught in school, but patrons want to take the easy way and have you hand them information. I’ve encountered this often as a K-8 school librarian. Several teachers complained to the principal that the students didn’t know how to find information or use the library. This was after years of being taught how to do both.

I asked the teachers to bring classes in to see what the problem was. The teacher would ask, “Where would you find information on XYZ?” A room full of shrugged shoulders and vacant stares.I responded, “Really? Where is the first place you would look for the information?” Miraculously hands would go up and they suddenly remembered they would use the index to the encyclopedia and then locate the volumes indicated. They would explain about the different Dewey classifications and using the OPAC.~ Paula Laurita – Athens-Limestone Public Library

Yellow Journalism

“Yellow journalism” goes back to the beginning of journalism! So do highly-regarded books that contained errors, slanted viewpoints, careful omission of important facts, etc.No matter what the medium, “logical fallacies” will always be common. Politics in general relies heavily on them, as do many other factors in life. Critical thinking can be taught, but the emotional and social variables that undermine the process can never be fully overcome.

I would even suggest that the concept of “authoritative sources” in general tends to downplay critical thinking while appealing to emotion and social pressures. 😉 Knowing how to manipulate the technology is an integral part of librarianship today. Librarians should know more than the students in that regard, and should work hard to keep their knowledge current. In most cases, that means studying on your own time for no pay, just as folks in other professions do.

. . . There are some simple ways to improve Google searches dramatically – when I have trouble finding things via Google, it’s usually because the information simply isn’t online, or it’s so obscure that it takes a lot of extra work (which is true of old style print searching, as well). Though indexes are more precise, they are inherently much more limited. ~ Jesse Ephraim – Roanoke Public Library

The Pew Research Center [somewhere] discovered that, really, under-twenty-somethings aren’t really all that net-savvy. They found it a misconception that next-genners can fix a computer in their sleep. Stroll through any public library’s teen area and watch them actually try to find info by Googling – it’s laughable, sad even. I’m not sure Google gets enough credit in terms of info. organization. Its services just get a bad rep because of its users.~ Michael Schofield

As professionals we should be aware of, and keep up to date on, both library(research) methods _and_ current information technologies. ~ Carl William Long – Reading Public Library

I think some patrons would love a drive through window! I my case as a public law library – “one divorce packet, no children, to go please.” ~ Virginia Eldridge Grayson County Law Library

What really gets to me about these kids-these-days-and-their-darn-computer-boxes discussions is the knee-jerk assumption that a different skill set is an inferior skill set. Lately I’ve enjoyed pointing people to Socrates’ Phaedrus, written around 370 B.C., in which he rails against the new technology of the printed word and its deleterious effect on the mental habits of future generations. David Malki, author of Wondermark, has a really good blog post about it here:http://bit.ly/fnDHxu

Socrates

I assume that a listserv full of librarians isn’t going to side with Plato in condemning the written word, but he’s not entirely wrong. A dialogue with a knowledgeable person can be much more illuminating that reading a book written by that same person. Plato’s error is his failure to see that the written word has its own strengths to offset the ways in which it is inferior to the spoken word and his refusal to seek out and exploit those strengths rather than lamenting those inferiorities.

Computers have produced a cultural upheaval to rival that wrought by writing and we’re well the point of no return. We’ll better serve ourselves and our patrons by looking to fuse our competencies with those of the Googleites than by grousing about what the kids don’t know. ~ Andrew Fuerste-Henry – Carnegie-Stout Public Library

. . . this ability to synthesize information into thoughts (especially written thoughts) that young people seem increasingly to be missing. I’m not sure if it has to do with how, or where they are getting their information; whether the inability to use an index or to structure a good online search is part of the problem. But I do know it’s a very real problem. I see it all the time, both at work and when I serve as a judge for local debate tournaments. ~ Tom Cooper – Webster Groves Public Library

I think this is probably the most significant point to be made on this topic, and gets to the heart of the matter. How to help patrons who don’t know they need help? ~ Mark Hudson East Baton Rouge Parish Library

And teachers and the Internet and their assignments for children…. I can’t figure out if it’s Google-era teachers or old, seasoned veterans who apparently give assignments and say, broadly, “You need information from a book, from a magazine article, and something from the Internet.” Period. I used to think it was older teachers who really were backward and knew nothing of the Internet, but thought it was something that everyone was “doing,” so his/her students should “do” the Internet for an assignment, too. But I’m not so sure. Then again, having had experience as a parent, I’m not always sure if kids who say, “The teacher said I need something from the Internet,” and then volunteer no further info, despite the best reference interview I can muster, are telling the truth. Maybe the teacher gave precise directions and exact websites to try. (That does happen, in about 10% of the cases, or some ridiculously low percentage like that there one.) Maybe the teacher spoke intelligently and well about How to Find Good, Accurate Information on the Internet. Or not. Or has never been in the public library. Or perhaps has.

Hittites in Love

And then there are all the official documents sent home for parental signatures at the beginning of the year, baddly ritten with pore grammer an speling an runonsentencez, and who produced *those*, I wonder. Google-ites, or Troglodytes? (Amorites, Hittites, Jebusites, Hivites–oops, now I’m getting carried away with names from the Bible, and am risking political incorrectness in public. Or on publib. Stop me now!)~ John Richmond – Alpha Park Public Library

They live on the Internet and they can’t read an analog clockAnd they eat junky foods till you can hear all their arteries clog.They trust Google way too much, and they don’t know how to use an indexThey cite Wikis in their papers and good lord, I don’t know what’s next!

We say You! (You!) Kids! (Kids!)Get off of my lawn!You! (You!) Kids! (Kids!)Get off of my lawn!You! (You!) Kids! (Kids!)Get off of my lawn!Keep off the grass ’cause you’re not allowedOn my lawn!

Their phones are ringing Bieber in the library all of the timeThey answer them out loud, ignoring all the posted “no cell phone” signs.You say “Hang it up, kiddo, or I’ll have to ask you to depart.”And they act as though you’ve stabbed them all the way down into the heart.

We say You! (You!) Kids! (Kids!)Get off of my lawn!You! (You!) Kids! (Kids!)Get off of my lawn!You! (You!) Kids! (Kids!)Get off of my lawn!Keep off the grass ’cause you’re not allowedOn my lawn!

They barely use a vowel, they communicate only in text-speakAnd for all the sense it makes to us, they might as well be sending Greek.We snoop around the stacks and assume that all their acts are obsceneNo wonder they seem to think librarians are all kind of mean!

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